Surface maintenance vehicles and cleaning devices have a long history subject to gradual innovation and improvement toward improved and oftentimes automated performance in removing debris and contamination from floors. These vehicles and devices may be self-powered, towed, or pushed, and/or manually powered and may carry a human operator during cleaning operations. Such vehicles and devices include scrubbers, extractors, sweepers and vacuums, as well as combinations thereof, intended for cleaning, scrubbing, wiping and/or drying a portion of a substantially flat surface both indoors and outdoors. Many such vehicles and devices employ a side brush assembly for accessing a larger floor envelope. Such side brush assemblies make it easier to clean near walls or other obstacles without damaging the machine or the wall while at the same time widening the cleaning path of the machine to increase productivity (area cleaned/time).
The side brush assembly of such prior art cleaning vehicles often mounts at or near the side of a surface maintenance vehicle and swings outwardly away from a machine center and downwardly toward the surface to be cleaned. Prior art side brush assembly mechanisms have included separate actuators or linkages to lift the side brush assembly and rotate the side brush assembly inwardly or outwardly. Some prior art cleaning vehicles have included side brush mechanisms that provide only a lift motion, such as the side brush mechanism of surface cleaning machine model 530E, manufactured by Tennant Company, of Minneapolis, Minn., while other machines have used two separate mechanisms to control lifting and retracting, such as those provided on machine models 528, 7400, M20, T20, and M30, manufactured by Tennant Company.
A lift motion of the side brush assembly is desired to raise the brush deck to provide ground clearance when the scrubbing functions are turned off. An extension/retraction motion is desired to extend the deck past the machine envelope when operating, and to retract the deck back when not operating the side brush. Portions of the side brush assembly retracted behind the machine frame are protected from damage.
Thus, there is a need for an improved side brush assembly mechanism which provides both lift motion and extend/retract motion.